Water 'blow off' costs Charlton firm $236K

CHARLTON — Since early 2010, a company in town has used 37.8 million gallons of water, for which it was billed $236,180.

But the water hasn't been used for drinking, cooking, bathing or cleaning.

Instead, it has flowed from a hydrant with valves left open to keep water in the system fresh.

The quarterly bills from Southbridge, which supplies the water to about 200 customers in Charlton, have been paid by 10 North Main Street LLC, a venture between Southbridge-based Harrington Healthcare System and Charles Giacchetto, the builder of the 4-year-old wellness center at that address near Route 20.

The open-hydrant process, called "blow off," is in the Charlton section of the Southbridge public water system, and is meant to keep up water quality to compensate for the low number of Charlton customers and low water usage.

The company voluntarily began paying the bills in 2010, when it was the only Charlton customer on the Southbridge system.

At the time, the building was in jeopardy of not opening on time, so Harrington agreed to pay and has been doing so ever since based on an agreement. The blow off guaranteed a steady flow of clean, fresh water.

The blow off has ensured that Southbridge maintains an adequate mix of chlorine in the water, which the Southbridge public water system is required to have to comply with the Safe Drinking Water Act, state Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Edmund J. Coletta Jr. said.

But the company says it is planning to discontinue the payments now that other customers have joined. It is not clear who will pay for any blow off in future.

Calling the arrangement unusual, Mr. Coletta said it will end once there are more connections in Charlton.

"Southbridge may want to evaluate whether it is still necessary, based upon recent operational changes associated with new lines and additional connections," Mr. Coletta suggested.

At present, 10 to 15 gallons of water per minute continuously pour from a hydrant into a 2-inch hose that runs next to Town Hall and then down a slope behind the building and into the ground. The choice of hydrant was changed to this site now that more customers have been added. The new site is the end of the line, and having the blow off here keeps the flow going steadily, officials said.

Previously, at the former blow off site near 10 North Main Street LLC, water had been released in excess of 35 gallons per minute, officials said.

Southbridge Acting Town Manager Kevin E. Paicos defended the blow off process as "quite logical" and "defensible" from hydrological and engineering points of view. Without it, he said, the system would have significant problems.

"We're not just being crazy people and throwing water away," he said.

Mr. Paicos conceded that a blow off valve on a permanent basis may be a bit unusual.

"But the notion of opening up fire hydrants and flushing the system, that's common, as every single water system in the world does that" because of sediment in dead ends of water systems that aren't looped.

Mr. Paicos said Southbridge is negotiating with Charlton to create more demand through a proposed looping of the pipe.

"A couple of things have to happen first. The IMA (intermunicipal agreement for Southbridge to sell Charlton water) has to get amended and signed."

Negotiations have been protracted.

"Secondly, we've got to create more demand — because we don't do ourselves a lot of good in terms of residence time in the pipe if we lengthen the pipe and don't incrementally increase the demand," Mr. Paicos said.

Both towns, he said, are attempting to tie in a large user that is already positioned on the line.

The would-be customer, whose identity was not disclosed, could reduce the time in the pipe by two to three days, into the range where Southbridge wouldn't need the blow off anymore, Mr. Paicos said.

Mr. Paicos and Charlton Town Administrator Robin L. Craver said there has been progress toward amending the municipal agreement.

Said Ms. Craver: "I believe we're very close. Kevin grasps the situation. He understands the win-win situation of Southbridge supplying more water to Charlton. It makes good business sense for Southbridge, plus the humanitarian reason. It's good to help the people here who have contaminated water."

An Exxon Mobil-owned storage tank at the Massachusetts Turnpike 6 West service plaza failed in the 1980s, causing an underground gasoline plume that migrated into the water table.

The state DEP ordered Exxon to expand water infrastructure in Charlton to bring clean water to about 120 developed properties with wells tainted by cancer-causing gasoline additive methyl tertiary-butyl ether.

But getting Charlton customers to tie into the system has proved a challenge.

Steve Wandland, Charlton's water and sewer administrator, said about 200 customers in Charlton use Southbridge water.

Ms. Craver said several Charlton residents, during a public hearing held by selectmen last year, said they were not interested in paying for water, and liked the taste of their own water better than that of Southbridge water.

A Charlton bylaw in May was passed making it mandatory for any constructed, reconstructed, substantially enlarged or substantially altered building to tie into the line where there is a public water supply pipe.

In addition, Ms. Craver said, there have been discussions about creating incentives, such as having portions of the hookup fees subsidized.

The Water/Sewer Commission has talked to Exxon about possibly assisting in that, but there's been no guarantee, she said.

Said Ms. Craver: "Our goal is to build the system that would put water along Old Worcester Road, Mugget Hill Road and service our schools. That's our ultimate goal. Because we believe that the plume is traveling from the Mass. Pike down toward the schools. Not only do we believe it, the DEP also believes it."

Meanwhile, hospital spokesman Thomas Nutile suggested recently that Harrington would no longer pay for the process, because the issue, he said, had since been resolved, as other homes and businesses have been tied in to the line.

Asked again if the matter had truly been resolved, Mr. Nutile reiterated last week: "I believe we're not paying any more for those procedures of blow off."

Contact Brian Lee at brian.lee@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BleeTG